softer it falls, longer it dwells
by ipsa dixit
Summary: "I have some advice to give you," Gideon says, walking and sitting down in the chair small chair behind Molly. She groans as she turns around to face him—him sitting down means that he's going to be here for a while.


_prompts at the bottom_

 _thanks to ck for betaing!_

 _934 words, by google docs_

* * *

"Knock, knock."

Molly rolls her eyes as her brother peeks his head out through the door of her dressing room. She's trying to fix her dress and be prepared to get _married_ , but she knows that she's going to start crying as soon as she lays eyes on Arthur. She loves her brother, she _does_ , but she just wants a little bit of time alone.

Turning to face her brother, she can tell that it's Gideon, not Fabian—his nose is a fraction of an inch bigger and there are less freckles on his nose. It took a while, but Molly has become an expert on telling her older brothers apart.

"Hi, Gid," she says, softening as she sees the big grin on his face. It morphs into a pout, though, as she correctly identifies him; they _hated_ the day she realised that she could tell them apart.

"How do you know I'm not Fabian?" he asks, still pouting.

"I have my ways," she says with a laugh and a wink. "Besides, Fabian's probably… _busy_ with Edgar."

The pout on Gideon's face quickly turns into a smirk. "Good point," he says. "Besides, _I'm_ the one here because I'm the better brother. By _far_."

"Gid," Molly says, trying to look stern, but her smile still comes out.

"It's true! You know it," Gideon says, taking three strides over to her. He engulfs her in a hug, ignoring her protests that he'll ruin her hair. "I never thought I'd live to see the day of my little sister getting married," he says. He's smiling at her warmly, until he sees the expression on her face—she is _not_ pleased with him joking about death so easily while there's a war, especially when their father almost died fighting a Death Eater the week prior; their father almost _didn't_ live to see the day. "Sorry, Molls," he says, pursing his lips and looking down.

"It's fine," she says, and she means it—it's her wedding day, she shouldn't have to worry about the war for just a few hours.

"I have some advice to give you," Gideon says, walking and sitting down in the chair small chair behind Molly. She groans as she turns around to face him—him sitting down means that he's going to be here for a while.

"You?" Molly asks, turning back to her mirror and checking her hair. "What do you know about marriages? You've never been married."

Gideon laughs, and Molly can see his reflection wink. "As far as you know," he says, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

"You would invite me to your wedding, Gid," Molly says as he shrugs. She knows him too well for him to get away with his little white lies. Besides, she's getting _married_. She's too old to be that gullible.

"Maybe, maybe," he says. "Maybe it was a secret wedding."

"Sure."

"Okay, fine. But only because I don't need to get married or date someone to know that I have a dashing face—I have a mirror," he reasons, sticking his tongue out. Molly's heard this before, and she knows that her brother would probably never get married—he just wasn't into people romantically. Still, it would never hurt to tease him about it.

"Dashing," Molly repeats, turning back to him with a smirk. "Sure."

"I'm the better-looking twin," he argues.

"You guys look alike. If anything, _I'm_ the better-looking one."

Gideon gives her a glare, but she can tell he doesn't mind—he still has a big smile on.

" _Anyway_ ," Gideon continues, "I'm sure you want to know my advice."

"Not really," Molly says. She walks over to him and tries to push him off the chair, but to no avail—he's pretty strong. "What I want is for you to get up and leave so that I can do my makeup."

Gideon stands up, allowing Molly access to her chair, but he doesn't leave.

"You do your makeup thing. I'll just talk," he tells her, pushing the chair towards her. She rolls her eyes, but sits down in the chair and starts to apply foundation to her cheeks with a brush—she always prefered to put makeup on the Muggle way.

"I'm going to be serious, Molly," Gideon starts, when he sees that Molly isn't going to object. "You're a pretty bad-ass little sister." Molly grins at this—she spent _years_ trying to look good around her brothers, who always seemed to leave her in the dust, revelling in their own genius. She always wanted to live up to them. "People might try to get you to do things you won't want to do, but just remember, you can kiss their ass."

Molly puts down the brush and moves onto eyeshadow. "And why are you tell me all this?" she asks, patting some pink powder onto her eyelids.

"Because most of your life you've been living with Mum and Dad, who, to be honest, are also pretty bad-ass. It runs in the family. They're protected you. Now you're getting married. You'll probably be a mum yourself. It's _your_ turn to embrace your bad-ass self and _do_ the protecting."

Molly's face has a grin forming as she turns around to face her brother. "Wow, Gid, thanks. I like this serious side of you. Can we keep it?"

"No," Gideon says, sticking his tongue out once again. "Wait until your reception."

Molly sends a glare his way, but still walks over and gives him a tight hug. "Thanks, Gideon. I love you."

He hugs her back, and she doesn't even care if her hair will get messy from the hug. "Love you too, Molls."

* * *

 _for:_

 _the houses comp [gryffindor, year 7 - short - gideon prewett]_

 _insane house comp [gideon]_

 _through the universe [molly weasley]_


End file.
